Neurophysiological Assessment of An Innovative Maritime Safety System in Terms of Ship Operators’ Mental Workload, Stress, and Attention in the Full Mission Bridge Simulator
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)
Summary
This study addresses the critical gap in objectively evaluating human factors—specifically mental workload, stress, and attention—in maritime safety systems. Despite technological advancements, human error remains a primary cause of maritime accidents, accounting for over 80% of incidents. The research aims to validate an innovative safety framework called Human Risk-Informed Design (HURID) by using neurophysiological signals to assess ship operators' psychological states during high-risk scenarios. The motivation stems from the need for objective, real-time metrics to replace or supplement subjective self-reports, which are often unreliable in high-stress environments. The experimental design involved 26 mariners operating within a high-fidelity Full Mission Bridge Simulator. Participants navigated a collision risk scenario in congested waters, modeled after a real-world accident in the Strait of Dover involving the MV Wadi Halfa and MV Scott Isles. The study employed a within-subjects design where participants performed the same navigation task under two conditions: with and without the HURID intervention. HURID integrates human factors into system design, specifically addressing the "sole lookout" issue by providing additional support to the Officer on Watch. Data collection included subjective reports, behavioral metrics, and electroencephalography (EEG) to objectively measure mental workload, stress, and attention levels. The results demonstrated statistically significant differences between the two conditions (all p < 0.05). Mariners operating without the HURID system experienced significantly higher mental workload and stress levels compared to those using the system. Conversely, attention levels were statistically lower in the absence of HURID. These findings indicate that the HURID framework effectively reduces cognitive burden and stress while enhancing situational awareness and attention during critical navigation tasks. The EEG-based indicators successfully characterized these mental states, confirming the reliability of neurophysiological methods for assessing human performance in maritime contexts. The significance of this study lies in its validation of HURID as an effective countermeasure for improving maritime safety in congested waters. By objectively demonstrating that HURID lowers mental workload and stress while boosting attention, the research supports the integration of human factors into the design of maritime safety systems. Furthermore, the study establishes a precedent for using EEG-based neurophysiological assessment in the maritime domain, offering a robust, objective tool for evaluating operator performance and psychological states. This approach can inform future safety protocols, training programs, and system designs, ultimately aiming to reduce human error and prevent accidents in complex maritime environments.
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| archive | success | openalex | — | — | 5 | 2026-08-09 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-08-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-nvidia | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 11 | 2026-08-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-nvidia on 2026-08-10; verification: verified.
Topics
Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.
Information type
What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).
- Empirical Findings: physiological data, self report data
- Theoretical Contribution: theory or model